In order to facilitate communication of data packets through complex communication networks, infrastructure equipment supporting the communication network frequently insert information into data packets flowing through the communication network in order to assist in the routing and/or tracking of the data packets as are they are transmitted through the communication network. Further, data communication networks, such as general packet radio service (GPRS) networks, which are used by the global system for mobile communication (GSM), typically employ tunneling protocols to enable the transfer of data packets from an entry point, throughout the data communication network, to a target destination. Typically, a unique tunneling identifier (ID) is assigned for each individual data session or user conversation transmitted over the data communication network.
The usual protocol for tunneling IDs for GSM network is the GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP). When using the GTP protocol, tunneling identification data (TID) is pushed into to a data packet communicated through the GSM network. However, it is usually the case that only the infrastructure equipment responsible for transmitting the data packets through the communication network understands the information added to data packets. Interception or capture of these data packets for network communication monitoring or analysis purposes can therefore be problematic, as the monitoring and analyzing devices have difficulty understanding the additional information inserted into the data packet by the computer networking infrastructure. This confusion leads to inefficiency, latency, and decreased throughput in the processing of data packets by network monitoring and analysis equipment. Further, when load balancing or other commonly used distribution methods are applied to packets that are sent to multiple monitoring devices, and these packets are encapsulated inside a tunnel or other formatting is applied that is not native to the monitoring distribution device, packets from the same tunnel may be spread across differing output ports. This distribution causes analysis tools or other connected devices to miss packets, see fragments or otherwise receive incomplete/corrupted streams.